


Till Your Last Breath

by In_Crime_Partner



Series: The Tale Of The Souls [3]
Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bratva AU, Eventual Smut, F/M, Falling In Love, OHFAT, Olicity Hiatus Fic-A-Thon, Olicity Hiatus fic, olicity - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-11
Updated: 2017-06-21
Packaged: 2018-11-12 23:02:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11171919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/In_Crime_Partner/pseuds/In_Crime_Partner
Summary: The countdown plastered to one's skin showed how much time the other's soulmate had left to live. For Felicity Smoak, that meant she had 3 months to find and warn her soulmate before he would die. When she met him though, she got more than what she signed herself up for. Especially when his secret identity was revealed to her...Soulmate, Bratva AU mixed with Olicity Fic-A-Thon Prompts.





	1. Prologue: Eye Contact

**Author's Note:**

> Heyyaaa people :)
> 
> I'm very excited to be back with this small prologue. This fanfiction will be updated weekly, depends on how much the prompt fits the storyline I have in mind, and of course the response will determine how many chapters this story should get. While this prologue is very quick, I will try to aim for a word count between 2500 and 5000+. 
> 
> The chapters will focus heavily on that week's prompt, except for this one, because this is the chapter that gets the story going. I hope you enjoy this little ficlet and follow the characters' journey to the end. :)
> 
> Let me know what you think at the end by dropping a message. Comments and kudos feed the soul of my Muse. :P Enjoy! :)

The worlds of Soulmates were a cruel one. For instance, not everyone had a soulmate while some people had more than one. The appellation "cruel" did not come from that reason though. It came from the marred skin on a person's body that hid a countdown. The countdown itself showed the years, months, days and minutes that were left until their own soulmate died, spraying an invisible shadow of death and clock over people's heads as a reminder. Those who carried the different looking countdowns were much more tensed, depressed and led a life only the strongest could. But even so, from the connections soulmates shared, people called it a blessing. 

For Felicity Smoak, it was more of a curse. 

The curved numbers changing from day to day did not show a high number like in the case of most children at her age. Instead, when Felicity turned 13 and the mark appeared, it displayed the following combination of numbers: _"12:03:20:05."_ Which meant she had a little over 12 years until her soulmate died. 

From the moment people saw the number on her wrist, they started whispering behind her back, pitying her, mocking her. Some were kind, some were not. Some offered condolences to her, while some told her it was because no one wanted her. Overall, Felicity received a load of varying reactions that pushed her into a dark place. She did not want a simple number to rule her life, especially when it did not necessarily mean anything. Sometimes, the dates were wrong.

So, Felicity bought a bracelet with the help of her mother to conceal the countdown and focused on making a bright future for her. That helped her in more ways than she thought it would at first. The pity looks ceased then vanished altogether after a while and her classmates stopped making fun of her. And while it solved many problems, she couldn't ignore the rising nervousness and later panic at the low number.

She wasn't into soulmates, but if the numbers were true, it meant an innocent person was going to die and she knew exactly when. 

* * *

Felicity was 22 when she decided to find her soulmate and warn him. For years, she sat back and focused on her life, waiting for the countdown to switch to a higher number. But since she only had three more years, she decided it was up to her to make sure the man she was destined to be with wouldn't die so early. She wasn't sure she would actually start a relationship with him once found, as she was still too young to settle for "her forever," but she couldn't do nothing any longer.

Unbeknownst to him, he needed her help. 

* * *

At the age of 25, after 3 years of hopeless searching, Felicity was tired both physically and mentally. She listened to what her guts told her and moved from Las Vegas to Starling City and yet, she caught no sign of him. It was believed that when you met your soulmate, the countdown's color would change from black to a lighter, colorful one, indicating someone's status. The mark would only turn back to black once the mate died. Felicity checked her wrist a lot per day, but whenever she looked down, she had to swallow back a disappointed sigh at the sight of dark ink. 

She had four months left and Felicity had visited each club, hospital, social place, plaza, hotel and so on the city had to offer for people. No matter what though, the mark stay unchanged with only the numbers growing smaller. 

And after years of searching, she was losing her optimism.

* * *

It took her two hours of standing in line to get into the new club, called _"Verdant."_ It was kind of her last hope. She had three months left, if she didn't find her soulmate there, she didn't know where to check next. She moved to Starling City 3 years ago and while her heart told her he was in that city, she couldn't help but question the accurateness of her instincts. He could be in a different city, unaware of his upcoming death whilst she wasted time here. Felicity had no idea what she would do if he died and she couldn't even try preventing his death. If it could be preventable of course, like a car crash or a wrongly gone mugging - not that mugging could be good. If it couldn't be prevented because it was a sickness, Felicity had no idea what she would do next. She had gifted the last few years of her life to finding her soulmate. 

She knew people managed to live a content and happy life without their mate, but truth be told, Felicity was unsure. A bigger part of her wouldn't be able to move on from his death, while another part of her would like to explore her other chances. It wasn't like she had never been with anyone, but fate existed for a reason. They were soulmates for a reason.

Not every soulmate relationship worked out the way people hoped, like in the case of her parents, but there were ones people could only dream of, like in the case of her grandparents. The love and connection they shared... It was what drove Felicity to at least try. She didn't want to live her life in a bubble of what ifs and maybes. She had to try and if she failed, she at least failed knowing she did what she could. Although, she wasn't sure anymore if she was talking about saving him or having a relationship with him. For all she knew, he could be a drug addict or a serial killer. Or a seventy-year-old beer-bellied man. That would explain low the numbers. Not that Felicity wanted to think about that option.

Back to the present though. 

Felicity made her way through the crowd on the dance floor toward the bar, ignoring the eager hands that touched the red material of her dress and naked flesh they found, knowing the alcohol would help soothe her over-stretched and tensed nerves. She couldn't focus on her task if she was only paying attention to her own body's emotions. Hopping down an empty seat that looked inviting, she ordered her favorite cocktail and placed her palms flat on the cold glass, breathing in and out deeply. 

He had to be there, she refused to leave without knowing who her soulmate was.

Swirling in her seat, Felicity took in the place, gazing from faces to faces in the rows of grinding dancers, praying she would feel some kind of pull toward him if she managed to lay her eyes on him. Nothing. She felt absolutely nothing. She scanned the crowd again, only stopping the search to get her drink, the loud music the DJ played, resonating in her chest. The sensation was both unwelcome and unsurprising. Starling City had more than 100 nightclubs and she had been to all. 

When she restarted her search for the third time, Felicity felt a set of eyes on her face from the left she hadn't felt before, drawing her attention from the crowd to the shadowed corner upstairs. There, her eyes collided with the gaze of another person, the pull she hoped to feel flaring to life like those flames had been woken suddenly from a light sleep.

She couldn't see his face fully, she couldn't even see his body in full glory, but she didn't have to. Her eyes were strictly stuck on his. From the changing brightness in the dimly lit place, Felicity couldn't see the color of his eyes, but the intimacy it held still got to her. A shiver ran down the path of her spine and her grip on the glass tightened, as his stare kept calling for her. 

His eyes showcased power and yet, he didn't even try to use it on her. The muscles in her stomach tangled and Felicity slowly slipped her lower lip between her teeth, the small, almost invisible action drawing his attention from her eyes down to her dark red lips. Her body pulsed with the rhythm of her pounding heart, her breathing that had been mostly normal mere minutes ago quickening.  

A face appeared in her vision out of the blue, covering the mysterious man's gaze and Felicity shook her head a tad to sweep away the magic of the jiffy, blinking rapidly at the stranger ahead while her insides screamed at her to follow the man who held her stare. 

"Hey, babe. What you doin' here alone?" he asked a tad unsure about himself, and Felicity almost laughed at his attempt to form a normal, coherent sentence. He most definitely wasn't thirsty anymore.

Before she could reply though, the man was gone, in his place standing a different yet familiar stranger, his piercing _bluest of blue_ eyes making her breath hitch. He was the guy from upstairs. Her eyes roamed over his features and she took in the stubble that littered his jaw, the lips that were drawn in a tight line and the mole his skin wore proudly. Felicity's gaze moved upward and once more, she was struck by his silent look, her lips parting at the sight. He held her captive in that trice, closing out the outsiders from the bartenders to the people surrounding them on the dance parquette. The music that had been bothering her ears before quieted as she got a read on him through his eyes, her heart beating furiously under her breast. 

Longing. Surprise. Wariness. Fierceness. Lust. 

She didn't need a mirror to be certain her eyes unmasked the same emotions for him. The temperature of her body rose, her skin under the bracelet burning a tad as they stayed unmoving in the spur of the moment. 

Felicity didn't have to look down at her mark. She knew it changed colors.

It was him.

Finally.


	2. At Odds

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey,  
> I'm sorry about last week. I wanted to update but that week was pure hell, I barely had time to do anything let alone write. But, the new chapter is here with week 4's prompt, which was 'At Odds.' The chapter is around 3K words and some stuff happens. ;) There might be mistakes though for which I apologize. I will check and correct this chapter as soon as I can. 
> 
> Let me know at the end what you think by dropping kudos or a comment. Feedback feeds my muse and encourages me to write more and faster. 
> 
> Anyways, happy reading! :)

Felicity Smoak was at odds. With her stray thoughts. With her mind. With her heart. With her soul. With  _herself_. 

His eyes and the intensity of his presence created a schism inside her she hadn't felt for a long, long time. To be honest, when she actually thought through it, she wasn't sure if that emotion had ever been present in her life before. At least not in the same way, not with the same fire. She did feel something similar around the time she decided to find him and give up a few parts of her dreams for a while, yet it was not entirely identical.

From those two times, there was something in common.

Both times, both feelings could be connected to him. To her soulmate.

Who was currently standing in front of her, igniting the fire in her veins with a simple gaze, catching her breaths and paralyzing her on the seat she had chosen. 

Felicity had often believed the saying time was only an illusion but she had never believed it this much as in that moment. For all she knew, it could have been seconds, minutes or hours since he halted merely two feet from her. His closeness should have been a pinch of wake up call from the haze he cast upon her before he came down not feverish heat spreading in her limbs. 

That was where the schism and why she was at odds with herself came into the picture.

She had imagined meeting him a billion times in different scenarios, during daydreaming, during actual dreaming, during free seconds between phone calls and coding but under no circumstances had she come up with a situation where she would feel this conflicted about past and present, past and future. The lingering doubts hadn't found solutions before and not even now but the raging possibilities were screaming in her head. 

And not just about saving him. Not just about choosing to stay strangers or become more.

About her life itself. About soulmates itself. About past and present making one future.

Could she leave everything behind when all of that was over? Could she start anew again? Could she give in to the temptation currently bouncing rounds and rounds in her body with the initial risk hanging over her head?

Was she popping those questions too early? She could wait and get to know him before making a decision but could she risk her heart like that? When according to the countdown on her wrist he only had a few more weeks to live? There was a great chance she was wasting time even with that small percentage of what ifs. Could she come back from such a loss if she gave in but couldn't help him? Live the life of a forever-widow as the society called the people who lost their soulmates ahead of time after bonding?

Not that bonding was on the table for them. That was too far ahead and they might never get the chance to experience their connection on a higher level. Sorrow wrapped around her heart, making her chest and shoulders heavier, her throat burning with a lump from the tears she stubbornly fought back. Looking into his eyes with that knowledge suddenly became too much and Felicity looked lower as if she was casually checking him out whilst trying to gather her emotions under one roof.

He was going to die in three months. Three short months. 

_Die._

Stop breathing. His heart stilling forever.

No matter what she decided, she would never be the same if he died after meeting him. Even if only for a brief time. A part of her would always rewind back to this year, to this moment be it in dreams or thoughts. Felicity felt fear churning at the pit of her stomach. She hadn't given it a thought before, but was she powerful enough to stop the threat hanging over his head? Was it a lost case?

Sucking in a deep breath, she slid the remaining cocktail back to the glass table, the tremor in her fingers giving a new push to her dreaded emotions and freed demons. The child in her, the little girl who had been abandoned multiple times yelled, shrieked to get far away from him while the adult she had grown into whispered, murmured to give the situation, him, _them_ a chance.

What about him though? 

It was nice of her to muse all these together but to what purpose if he was in an anti-soulmate group or did not want anything to do with her? Not that his eyes were radiating the latter... But if he was a part of an anti-soulmate group a rejection was a strong possibility as members had to commit themselves to being soulmate-less. In that case, he might not even believe her countdown and the time he had left. 

Felicity gulped, keeping her eyes on his expensive suit and matching tie, letting her gaze focus on the taut material showcasing the obvious amount of muscles he sported underneath. While the burn on her wrist faded, her heart was still going at it with full speed in uncertainty, want and fear.

Was that what he felt as well? The intense pressure on his chest, the heat of the mark changing colors? 

Fingers touched the underside of her jaw, the calloused pads forcing her to tilt her head until her eyes met his again, the intimateness of the trice notching higher as the air around them changed, the tension hovering over their bodies growing thicker. His thumb traced her lower lip and she stayed frozen on spot, only her chest falling and rising in rapid moves. The warmth and softness he touched her with thwarted some of her worries, giving her the opportunity to live in the moment, all thoughts of the dark future vanishing with his soft caresses. His other hand appeared in her vision before it cupped her cheek, the slow movement of his arm showing an out if she wanted to walk away and while that hadn't crossed her mind before, she knew she wouldn't be able to leave and run from his eyes and meaningful looks.

Warmness churned in her tummy, the already small distance between them disappearing as he leaned forward, making her eyes slip shut, heart to flutter and beat at an impossibly swift pace. She felt the air he breathed out on her skin, the ticklish albeit not unpleasant sensation awakening goosebumps on her arms along with a shiver that danced through her body. Felicity raised her hands, gripping the closest part of his suit she could get, clenching her fingers into tight fists to pull him to her faster. His nose brushed hers and a smile broke out on her lips as a reaction, her body longing to feel him, to feel his firm arms around her, his soft lips on hers.

A second passed with only their noses touching, the need in her veins and the heat in the lower part of her body making her emotions turn impatient. She was about to erase any distance they had between their lips when he pulled back all of a sudden, warm hands moving away from her face. Biting back a desperate noise, she opened her eyes, confusion replacing her need, clearing a part of cloudiness. With furrowed brows, she stared at him talking to someone beside him, his attention half on the man who engaged him in a conversation and half on her.

She couldn't understand the words they exchanged as they were rushed whispers but she noticed him stilling, his hands that were gently cupping her face mere seconds ago turning to tight fist balls.

Before she could question what was happening or what had nearly happened, he turned back to her, giving her an apologetic look and walked away, his figure getting lost in the crowd on the dance floor, leaving her confused and alone.

Felicity stayed there for another ten minutes before reality hit her and she walked away as well with a heavy chest, disappointment, and anger. Anger at him and at herself.

She finally met him, after three long years of searching she found him and yet, she hadn't asked his name.

She met but lost him at the same time.

* * *

Since the club opening took place on Saturday, Felicity spent the first half of her Sunday fuming angrily, hacking the cameras Verdant had and looking for him. She only needed a snippet of his full face to find out who he was but no matter the angle Felicity looked at the people, she couldn't for the love of God find him. She checked the surveillance around the entrances twice, zooming on in faces, stopping the frames at places but her search came up empty. Which meant he was either uncaught on cameras leaving the building or he was invisible which of course was impossible. The next Felicity did was check the cameras inside and pray he just simply went upstairs to an office or a restroom but it seemed like he vanished once he entered the dollop of dancers.

Leaning back, Felicity heaved out an annoyed sigh, the laptop on her lap working on the last tape she found from yesterday. The process was slow and it gave her the perfect chance to analyze everything that had occurred the day before.

The mark that had been black once now flashed a deep forest green color and that was the only evidence she had for herself to make sure she hadn't just hallucinated or dreamt their meeting. Frustration bubbled up inside her again and she closed her eyes tightly, trying to gather her feelings.

She couldn't believe she met him and yet she only got one step closer to saving him. With their meeting yesterday she had at least a confirmation that he was in the same city as she but what could guarantee another meeting if they didn't know each other's names? Felicity wanted to hit something. She might have screwed up her only chance at warning him. And all logic was thrown out for a kiss that while would have been an absolute joy, didn't happen.

That part had her the maddest at herself. She wasn't that girl. The one who threw away everything for a kiss with a stranger. Yes, he was her soulmate, one could argue, but he was still a stranger. Besides him sporting good, handsome looks she knew nothing of him. Not his name, not his job, not his age or where he lived and so on. She knew nothing and if she hadn't been so caught up in the moment she could have found out at least two information from that quick list. But nope, here she was, sitting on her bed, ignoring the ache in her back while doing her best to find him.

Frack, what a mess.

Shooting the clock next to her a quick glance, Felicity placed the laptop on the bedsheet, leaving it to work whilst she got ready. Tonight, she would visit Verdant again and hope she could catch him there once more. She would not waste another opportunity. If he was there, she would grab a hold of him. Not in the physical way of course.

Felicity opened the wardrobe, pulling out a black dress with small cuts on both sides, and laid it on the bed next to the working machine. Next, she strode to the bathroom, washed her teeth and brushed her hair, leaving the locks to fall on her shoulders. After she was done putting in the contact lenses and applying a light makeup, she walked back to the bedroom and stripped, throwing her pajamas on the bed to fold a moment later. Taking on the dress followed and soon, she stood in front of the mirror, eyeing herself quietly.

While she had problems in her youth with her body, she couldn't help but feel confident. The dress highlighted her curves, teasing smooth skin she moisturized every day after showering and the dark color made her appear thinner. Her overall look was pretty and sexy. And she felt exactly like that.

Approving of how she looked, Felicity took a seat on the edge of her bed, working through the last tape she had from yesterday's party. The video wasn't long, only 15 minutes, shot from above the alcohol shelves and looking over the bar. She could see herself at the edge of the frames but much to her luck, he couldn't be seen. Not even for a nanosecond. Swallowing her anger, she deleted the useless video and shut off her laptop.

She could only hope he was going to be there tonight as well.

* * *

As it turned out, tonight was not her night. Not by a long shot.

She spent hours in the club, sitting at the bar gazing up at the corner he first took her in with his eyes, hoping and praying he would come back or make an appearance next to her, but her silent wishes went unanswered. He wasn't there. 

Different guys hit on her throughout the night but now, he wasn't there to replace their unwanted companies with his strong presence. Instead, she spent two hours in the same seat, listening to horny and lonely guys telling her the lamest of lame pickup lines. She honestly couldn't believe someone would fall for those lines as most were ridiculous but that was so not the point to her right now.

The point was, he wasn't there. 

Felicity left after midnight with a sinking feeling in her tummy.

* * *

The following day, on Monday, Felicity was in her small cubicle at Queen Consolidated. She put the thoughts of her stranger away and locked it in a box for a while to focus on work and get through the day. Tonight, she would try again at Verdant. But for now, she had to work on the project she was assigned to last week. The deadline was a month away yet she was nearly finished. Not that it was a surprise. She was good at her job, the best on that level if not the entire building when it came to computers and coding. She was bright, way brighter than her so could superiors. But since Felicity loved her job, she didn't complain.

It was after her lunch break that she met him again.

She was typing furiously on her keyboard, chewing on a red pen when a knock pulled her attention away and her gaze collided with blue eyes, with his eyes.

The shock that came over her was palpable. The pen fell from her lips that were parted, her eyes widening. He looked even better now that she could fully see him. She also recognized who he was exactly. He was Oliver Queen. Oliver Queen was her soulmate. The man who almost kissed her two days ago. The man who might die in three months.

How the living hell did he find her? By accident?

"Felicity Smoak?" he asked, looking at her with soft eyes, the longing and lust she saw in the club were now clouded by different emotions she couldn't read perfectly. One was relief? Was he looking for her like she had been for him?

The pull she felt for him flared up to life again as if he was the opposite side of the magnet that would complete her and Felicity inhaled through her parted lips, her hand dropping to the desk. She had not seen this coming. Him finding her. In her mind, it was always the contrary outcome playing.

"Hi, I'm Oliver Queen."

"Of course. I know who you are. You are my- y-you are Mr. Queen," Felicity replied immediately, flinching at her almost slip that did not go unnoticed by him. Great. Just great. It wasn't like he didn't know but that was definitely not the way she should go around the topic. His lips curved up in a tiny smile, pulling her attention to his lips. Inviting lips she almost tasted two days ago.

Okay, no. Stop. She would not walk down that path again. Look where that led her. One completely wasted day she would never get back.

"No, Mr. Queen was my father."

"Right, but he’s dead. I mean, he drowned. But you didn’t. Which means you could come down to the IT department and listen to me babble. Which will end in 3…2…1," Felicity glanced down at the desk for a second, collecting her feelings to stay partly calm and not let her nervousness affect her babbles more than it already did. She couldn't believe she brought up his dead father. Way to impress someone...

"So the other day we ran into each other and I didn't get the chance to properly introduce myself. I'm hoping to change that. Over a coffee or a burger," she looked at him suspiciously, going through her choices.

She could turn him down to get back to work or she could go with him and somehow spill the beans. Back to square one as it seemed. Being at odds with herself and decisions affecting the near future. 

How would she even break the news to him?

_"Oh, by the way, you are going to die in three months. Three months, fourteen days and seven hours to be exact."_

That... that would be awful. Terrible. Horrible.

"Felicity?" he questioned and she looked up, ignoring the flutters in her stomach at the way he said her name.

She would not develop a crush on him and fall in love with him.

She would not develop a crush on him and fall in love with him.

She would not develop a crush on him and fall in love with him.

Maybe if she said it a lot, she could stop herself from doing exactly that because let's be real he was a very attractive person and that was bound to happen sooner or later. With the hook hanging over his head, though, she couldn't let her for-now-non-existent emotions cloud her judgment. That would guarantee his death and she refused to sign his death warrant. 

She could try to warn him at least during their friendly time out. She refused to think of it as a date. It wasn't one.

"Alright, but I don't have much time. I have to get back to work in an hour," she said while shutting off the computer, keeping her eyes down. One hour would give her time to think of the best way to bring up his upcoming death. She gulped.

She was scared.

For herself.

For him.

For them.


End file.
